Styal (Quarry Bank garden) 27 Jan 2013

With the snow melting and the roads of Cheshire rapidly disappearing under water, it was a brave soul who ventured out on Sunday to work in Quarry Bank Gardens. Safe up on a slope by Quarry Bank House, high above the rapidly rising river Bollin, we worked to clear a really nasty area of bramble and rhodie. As we freed the hillside of scrub, the pile of cuttings grew ever higher...

Sadly there was no fire this week to keep us warm. At lunch time though, we ventured into the shelter of the Mill where we discovered that even the waterwheel was unable to cope with the rising river and had had to be turned off:

In the afternoon, we were spurred on by a swell of curious onlookers (the general public out enjoying their post roast dinner strolls), and proceeded to clear the remainder of the hills side leaving it all ready to be dug over later in the year.

Dunham Massey 20 January 2013

Five volunteers turned out on a cold day to Dunham Massey. The work was dealing with one of the small areas of Rhododendron that remained in a patch of woodland just outside the wall of the dear park - as the cut material has to be dragged back to a fire depending on the locations of safe fire sites, there is a tendency to cut circles in the Rhodi - this was a bit where to circles had not quite met.

The fire burnt brightly and warm which was good as the day was cold. We called it a day quite early as we had done that patch and the next patch really needed a new fire which was not practical at that time.

Styal 13 Jan 2013

A beautiful, crisp, sunny January day for the group's first worksite of 2013.

The task was clearing and burning brash made by stripping the trees that the Rangers were felling. This was in an area between the play park and the weir - the area needs clearing in preparation for contractors to come in to build and set of fish steps and a small hydro plant. It will also open up the views between the Mill and the weir.

The weir is too high for the salmon and trout, so the steps will allow them to get past and find the higher reaches of the river which have better spawning conditions. Power generated by the hydro plant will run the machinery in Quarry Bank Mill - a return of sorts to the days when it was powered solely by water.

Five volunteers enjoyed the sunshine, the excellent flapjack and also the potatoes baked in the fire (provided by the Ranger).

extra photos from Nathan